Saturday, 18 November 2017

" I know Deirdre will love it. She has just been widowed and I know your book will bring her much joy.She is such a lovely soul. They came to Dublin from NI many years ago due to the economics there, and started again from nothing, raising the children in the south. Losing Eddie has been a hard blow for her and I know your poems will lift her."

Deirdre said

" What a lovely surprise I got this morning. Thank you!! My house is
full of family at the moment, a gathering for a family wedding up in
Donegal. I want to sit down and really read your lovely evocative
book. From a quick perusal i was able to get a wonderful sense of
place, the sights and sounds, I could even feel the tickle of the
straw!! "

Saturday, 25 February 2017

Click above here to read the poem." As with your previous poems, this really conveys strong images of childhood and of the natural world. I love the way your poems seem to draw the reader in straight away – the imagery you use is very powerful and I could really imagine being there. I particularly liked the description of the sheep, the ‘keepers of the mountain’ - their lively characters contrasting well with the harsh image of the dead crows in the next.The description of the blue bottle in the last verse, desperate to escape, is great and emphasizes the peace and stillness of the room really well. I really like the way your writing conveys meaning so effectively and conjures up such strong imagery! "" I really enjoy your poems - they have the magic of childhood and their particular time and place. We all have different experiences of childhood but your poems make the memories live for people who have not experienced them.... I enjoyed your alliteration - those crows and the sheep. I like the way (think it called 'personification') you describe the sheep as 'keepers of the mountain'. I like the unexpected ways you use words, 'tidy death of flies', 'Sunday afternoon sleeping uncles', 'sun spilled, living room'. Lots of visual and sound imagery." What can I say - a dreamy long lost time and I wish I could have been there, it sounds so wonderful and warm. The only thing missing is hearing it with the proper accent."

Thursday, 12 January 2017

" ......The UK's lack of foreign language skills is problematic for our export performance: a study
by the Department for Business, Innovation & Skills in 2014
estimates that language and cultural barriers are costing the UK economy
up to £48 billion per year.

Graduates who can speak more than one
language will have a significant competitive advantage in today’s job
market, and as China is a fast-developing market that the UK has a huge
trade deficit with, Mandarin speakers will not only be in high demand by
UK companies, but also essential to future-proofing the UK economy. "see the full article here....